ISIS terrorists are using commercial drones on the battlefield and there is a growing concern among authorities that these unmanned aircraft systems could be used in terror attacks inside the U.S.

ISIS militants have been modifying drones, which can be purchased online, to drop grenades on troops overseas. They also use drones to do surveillance on troop movement and activity.

ISIS has ramped up their use of weaponized and surveillance drones against Iraqi troops and US forces.

In April, U.S. Central Command told Fox News that coalition troops have as many as 30 encounters a week with unmanned aerial vehicles.

In fact, ISIS announced the formation of a new drone warfare unit in January, whose sole purpose is to inflict “a new source of horror for the apostates.”

And, according to a January report by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point “we should expect the Islamic State to refine its drone bomb-drop capability. It is likely that the Islamic State’s use of this tactic will not only become more frequent, but more lethal as well.”

Col. John Thomas, CENTCOM Director of Public Affairs, confirmed this increased drone use to Fox News in an e-mail.

“It is something we’ve observed and it’s an emerging threat,” he said. “We are concerned about it. We first saw an initial surge in ISIS drone activity in late-January. We work with teams across the Department of Defense to address and neutralize the enemy use of unmanned systems.”

Jason Kopp at Fox reports that Col. Thomas went on to say they are “defeating ISIS drones regularly on the battlefield” and claims unmanned aircraft vehicles, or UAVs, “have had little real impact on the overall fight.”

They also stated ISIS drones will not dramatically impact the battlefield, but add that “the Coalition remains responsive to this emerging threat through both active and passive measures, and we continue to improve force protection measures for all our Coalition personnel and Iraqi and Syrian partner forces.” What is more interesting, they say, is “the way our partners are now using the drones against the enemy. The Iraqi Security Forces have turned the tables on ISIS with its drone technology.”

So what about the threat here in the USA?

According to a DHS spokesperson, “DHS does consider commercial drones configured or modified to employ explosives or weapons a concern. This is due to low-cost, ease of access, and the quick-pace of this evolving technology to adapt beneficial Unmanned System equipment for nefarious purposes.”

Check this out!

I’ll admit that’s pretty cool. Unfortunately, just like everything else you are going to have scumbags and terrorists use technology like this to carry out acts of violence.

I wonder if ISIS drones will have their punkass emblem painted on them. If one comes over my property I’ll blow it out of the sky.